Yokai of Shimane

Records in Shimane

Ushi-oni

牛鬼（うしおに）

Toriyama Sekien's 1776 print shows a bull-like head on a squat clawed body at the water's edge — and tells us nothing else about it.

Coast · Sea
Unknown

Danger 3/5 Editorial rating Danger rating 3 out of 5. This is an editorial rating, not a folklore measurement.

1933 Iwami coast (Ōda) Folklore record
Chases the fisherman after the nure-onna hands him a baby

Kawauso

川獺（かわうそ）

In Gunma in 1956 the kawauso was a figure on a riverside road at dusk who glances back and beckons — not a traveler, but an otter in human form.

River · Pond
Harmful

Danger 3/5 Editorial rating Danger rating 3 out of 5. This is an editorial rating, not a folklore measurement.

1959 Ōnan Folklore record
Otter as a young girl; stops a man's ox, then a splash

Nure-onna

濡女（ぬれおんな）

In Iwami in 1933, a fisherman walking home at night was handed an infant by a wet-haired woman — and when he threw the bundle down and ran, something else came out of the dark after him.

Coast · Road · Sea
Harmful

Danger 4/5 Editorial rating Danger rating 4 out of 5. This is an editorial rating, not a folklore measurement.

1933 Iwami coast (Ōda) Folklore record
Wet-haired woman hands a fisherman a baby; an ushi-oni gives chase

Records Library: Shimane

1933 The wet woman hands a fisherman a baby, and the ushi-oni follows Iwami coast, Ōda, Shimane · Nure-onna, Ushi-oni
1959 Otters that become girls, and the ox that would not move Ōnan, Shimane · Kawauso

Places to visit in Shimane

Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum and Former Residence 小泉八雲記念館・小泉八雲旧居 Museum Matsue, Shimane — The samurai house where the writer of Kwaidan lived in Matsue, and the museum beside it with his desk and manuscripts.

Places to Visit